Why our education system is flawed.

I do not think anyone would disagree with me when I say our education system is flawed- not in India alone but world over, almost. When I talk about our education system, though I do refer to the whole system overall but more specifically mean the higher education.

Ever since we were young, our education took the first priority and that is not bad at all. For of course, education is supposedly the most important facility that parents our supposed to provide to us. And so the process begins- the nursery admissions, interviews of our parents, donations to schools etc etc. As we grow up we realize the absurdity of all of it- a child who can barely speak is made to sit through interviews and so are the parents. What are these schools judging? I am not sure really.

Interviewing kids before they have gotten into a school? Am I the only one who sees the absurdity in  it?

I was told by my parents when I went for my nursery admission, I was wearing a frock and the school authorities would keep asking me its colors and everything (which were blue and white, by the way). I was barely three and now when I think back on it I find it quite weird. (Most guys I know cannot differentiate between shades of orange and pink, I was three then!).

And if that is not enough, these days there is a new trend of interviewing the parents- a process which is beyond my understanding by all means. What do you need to interview the parents for? I mean normal question is alright but such is the extent of these questions that most couples prepare for such interviews way before the D-day.

These are kids we are talking about with all their goo-goos and gaga and we are expecting them to sail through such questions BEFORE they have gotten into a school? Then what is the point of it all?

Okay, let us forget about all of that for now and move to the next point- our pointless syllabus. As far as I am concerned, I did not really care when a certain battle was fought or when a particular invention was made. Surely it did catch my curiosity but the fact that my passing or failing depended on these years was a bit unsettling. The point of education is to prepare us for the future, I would have liked it more had my school taught me how bank accounts are opened (I dreaded going in to a bank all by myself until last year because I found the thought too scary as I did not know anything at all) or how taxes are calculated (because I still don’t, tbh) and it just makes me feel like a fool.

So our syllabus is flawed. 

I dont understand how our syllabus are created.

But so is this concept of no-detention policy. With the advent of Right to Education, schools are being opened; students are being taught for free and it is a great step in the right direction. But are these people really learning? During the UPA regime, the then HRD minister honble (all kinds of sarcasm intended) Mr. Kapil Sibal launched the Comprehensive Curriculum Education system wherein students were graded and not scored and of course, you could not fail them. Really? REALLY?! So if a student has not learned anything in Class 3, you will promote him to class 4 where he will learn nothing because his concepts are not clear and so on. All this for what? So that you can show that he is a certain standard pass irrespective of whether or not he has that knowledge level or not? I am sure it looks great on your government’s report card but it did not really do anything for the nation except for severely hampering the youth.

There are whispers though that the new government will do away with this useless policy and one can only hope that this happens soon.

Then of course there are our colleges. I remember when I was in Class 12 in Commerce, I was pretty clueless as to what I wanted to do further but I always had an interest in English and applied accordingly. But by the time I was done a neighbor suggested my parents to have me coached in law and give their entrances. They did. And I loved it so much that I decided to pursue it further. Class 12 results came out and I went to meet my English teacher who had written glowing reviews for me for my international college applications and I distinctly remember her words- You are leaving Cardiff and Oxford for a local institute. I don’t know what is wrong with you but I do hope this does not turn out to be the biggest mistake of your life.

This unsettled me so much that I could not sleep all night. I had to rethink my decision a million times but I went ahead with it anyways. Almost two years have passed to this incident. What do I think about it now? I am not so sure. I like the place I am at but it does not satisfy me completely because no one hear talks about originality, creativity and the focus is mainly laid on book-ish knowledge. And I suppose this is the situation in most educational institutions irrespective of what field you are talking about which is the reason why they say more than 90% of graduates in India are not worthy of being employed (these are the results of actual studies conducted). With this half-baked knowledge how are we supposed to compete in this world anyway?

Maybe it is time that our education system is revamped that focuses more on developing the individuality of a student rather than producing copies.